Violet Riot

by Nate Galger (27yrs. Old with 5 months of rocket building experience)

This rocket started off as a bt-80, a sheet of 1/16" plywood, and a plan to make something. I wasn't sure exactly what was to come of it, but I am thrilled with the way it turned out. I wanted some cool looking fins so I drew a few different designs up and I liked the way these looked. Another one of my ideas was that the fins would have to look tough. I also wanted to make a rocket with a big engine and since this was to be my very first custom built rocket(I've only been a model rocketeer since Jan. '04) and the biggest rocket I've built this far used a "C" engine, I went with an "E".

I started by drawing my fins onto a piece of scrap paper and proceeded to cut the design out. Next, I traced the fins onto my plywood and then using a hobby knife, cut out my four fins. Immediately, I held the fins up to the body tube to see how it would look... I like the way they looked already! My next plan of attack was to get the engine mount in. I purchased an Estes mount kit for D and E engines. I followed the directions and before I knew it, I had the engine mount installed in my body tube. Awesome, I thought, this is going to take a big engine! Then I drew the lines on my body tube for the fin placement and also a line for my launch lug. Next I cut slits in the tube where my fins were going to slide into. I then glued on my fins one at a time, what a long time to wait. Oh well, the wait was finally over and time to do the fillets. And again the dreaded wait. After the fillets dried, which seems like an eternity, I glued on the launch lug(and of course waited for that to dry) and did the launch lug fillet. Now this stack of rocket parts was starting to look like something. Wow!

About a week before I started on my rocket, I was at a local hobby store and saw a can of metallic purple paint. It looked super cool so I picked it up without the knowledge of what I was going to paint with it. Now I know! Since my glue was dry, I figured I better paint this baby and see how the paint job turns out. It looked superb.

Now I needed to come up with a name. The name was going to have to be just as cool as the rocket itself. Hmmm... Violent Violet? Violet Violence? Neither one sounded just right. Purple Bomber? Naw, that sounds lame. I thought and thought. Then it came to me like a flash of lightning. VIOLET RIOT. Yeah, it's cool, tough, and it fits the paint job nicely. Now I would have to find some artistic way to make this rocket live up to it's name. I connected to Ask Jeeves picture search and typed in rioter. I found some pretty cool pics. I saved the ones I really liked which consisted of molotov cocktails, a riot policeman whose helmet reads " If you can read this you're about to get your head kicked in," and a riot control van. I proceeded to resize and then print out my rock-art. Then I got out some newspapers and cut out the letters to name my rocket. I glued the pics and letters onto the rocket and the molotov cocktails on the fins. After it dried, I used some clear paint in a number of very light coats to protect my homemade decals. There we go. It looks better than I ever could've imagined. Hmmm... I think this might need a nose cone. I thought of turning my own out of styrofoam, but I'll wait till I build a few more rockets before attempting that. The Estes Fat Boy I have on my shelf stares me down just waiting to be used for another purpose. I couldn't take it anymore. Aaargh! I ripped the nose cone out of that sucker and sanded off the red paint. Then I painted it in a soothing, calming purple. Ahhh. Now I can Relax. But not before adding a parachute, of course. My Violet Riot looks really awesome considering I didn't know exactly what I was planning on building in the first place. It all just came together, I am proud of my very first model rocket built from scratch with a big engine and a bad attitude!

So what on Earth became of the flight?

First flight was on an E9-4 clear skies, 60 degrees. Wind was about 5-7mph. Start the long awaited countdown... 5, 4, 3, 2, 1... Woosh! The rocket took off. I was hoping for a good flight and I am pleased to announce it went better than I could've ever imagined. My Violet Riot took to the skies as if it was destined to go to it's home in space. Then after the 4 second delay, the parachute deployed. The wind took my rocket on a little journey, but it landed safely in the grass. No damage whatsoever. I could fly again! Second launch, temp 47 wind 10mph. Another safe and beautiful flight, just as majestic as the first. I am looking forward to many more beautiful launches from this super cool rocket.